Random Note: The Owl Bar

Stopped into the Owl Bar this afternoon, as I was a little early in advance of the Brewer's Art 4 PM opening. Its in the Hotel Belvedere (really, a converted hotel that is now home to condiminiums), across from the Brewer's Art. Nice place, I've written about it before, as has Beer In Baltimore.

It has that really cool prohibition feel, the usual taps were on and I went with an Owl Pale. Quick question since I forgot to ask today, who are they contract brewed with to make those, since I don't think they brew their own beer? Thanks.

Its not the biggest craft beer place ever, but I do recommend it if you're in the Mt. Vernon area before Brewer's Art opens or if for some reason you're at BA and don't enjoy it. Apparently the Owl Bar and sister property The 13th Floor in the same building are for sale though, not sure what that's all about if true so might want to enjoy it while you can if true just in case new ownership changes the theme.

Fun Beer Time In Downtown Baltimore

I write this mostly to reference the simple fun beer-related things that can be done in and around Baltimore and Maryland.

Last Sunday the family had a pair of Ravens tickets, and I was the odd man out. No biggie, but I turned that into an opportunity to piggyback a ride into town. It saved gas and let me be a bit more freewheeling in what and how much I could drink.

I chose to start at Fell's Point, specifically the great Max's (around 3 p.m. Eastern). As most Maryland beer nuts know, Max's is an outstanding place with just a ridiculous amount of taps, most of them high quality and in high rotation. The owners have good connections so there's always more than a handful of hard to find goodies.

The problem was it was NFL Sunday, and Max's is supposedly jammed on Sundays. I took the risk and it paid off. I was able to find a seat at the bar within about 10 minutes. It was crowded in there, but could have been much worse (this was still about two hours before the Ravens game, maybe that had something to do with it). Max's has a deal where you can get 32 oz of beer in a plastic (eh) cup for $6. I passed on that and dove into two Belgian beers: an Ename Triple and a Kasteel Rouge.

Both came in chalices, and the bartender wisely asked if I'd had the Kasteel before (I hadn't, but I knew what was coming). I'd had a different Kasteel on a recent trip to Dr. Granville Moore's in Washington D.C., but this one was special. As I've written before, beer is sort of an avenue to satisfy my sweet tooth at times. The Kasteel Rouge is a "Belgian Cherry Ale" and it was like malted Kool-Aid, absolutely delicious. I was hooked and would have had more but I was trying to not get stuck simply at Max's (which isn't exactly a problem, but I had adventure on my mind).

The Ename was far more bland, served a bit warm as well, but there were some floral notes to it that I liked but a bit mild in flavor. Many tripels are that way so I didn't hold it too much against them, but I've had more enjoyable tripels.

From Max's I walked to Ale Mary's, about five minutes away. I'd read about them before having never been, as a place with a slight religious and Belgian beer theme. The facility itself is tiny, very narrow with a long bar and a long row of narrow seating past the bar. It opens to the street which is nice. The regulars there were a bit older, and glued to the television just a few minutes before the Ravens game kicked off.

I ordered their famous "cheesy tots" -- self-explanatory -- and the house Belgian pale ale. I expected a bit more out of the pale, but it wasn't a dud either. It had some spices and complexity in the nose and taste but was also a little off-putting. The service was great, as the person who handled my tab was one of the rare people to notice the "ask for ID" section on my credit card. We had a good laugh about that. The bartender woman was also friendly and offered everyone shots after her Redskins had just pulled off a victory. I passed, but that was festive and lively and part of what makes a place like that fun.

They usually have about 5-6 beers on draft here from what I've read, including the house pale and a few more common beers. The notable exception that day (they usually have one really good beer on draft when people write about Ale Mary's) was a Victory Golden Monkey Belgian-style tripel which was calling my name but something I also passed on to save room for the next stop.

From there I grabbed a cab over to Brewer's Art just in time for their opening. Part of my mission was to try their 12th Anniversary beer they called the "Twelve Labors". That was my first order at the upstairs bar. It had a great nose, served in their great kolsch-style glasses. It tasted solid, too, but not spectacular. They describe it as follows:
"A wheated, Herculean 'Chesapeake Mild' brewed to celebrate the twelfth anniversary of our opening (4.5% ABV)"

Sounds about right. Good, not great, but quite enjoyable as most of their offerings are and why I'm such a loyal follower.

From there I shifted to the cavernous, brooding downstairs bar for several chalices of their seasonal "Saison Pecore". This is a ridiculously refreshing, aromatic, tasty and enjoyable saison-style beer and in line with other inspired offerings from Brewer's Art. They describe it as follows:
"A deep golden ale, hopped with East Kent Goldings and Willamette hops, spiced with kaffir lime leaves and paradise seed (4.9% ABV)"

The bartender upstairs mentioned this will be out soon, so I recommend heading over there for a few if they aren't out already.

Eventually the folks made their way out of the Ravens game and met me at Brewer's Art for another round and a bite to eat before ending the evening. Good times, as usual, downtown. At the same time I could say this stood out but it didn't which is part of the appeal to the beer offerings downtown. Only schedule and responsibility keep me from more regular trips like that.

Review: The Owl Bar

Just down the street from Brewer's Art in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, inside the lobby floor of the Belvedere Hotel is The Owl Bar. It is so named because during Prohibition days it was a speakeasy and the giant owl structures overlooking the bar would signal impending raids.

Today there are no such worries, and they are but a bit of the many eclectic items decorating this old bar and dining establishment. They have mounted zebra and other animal heads, other assorted owls, etc. on display throughout. The brickwork near the ceiling is rather elaborate and notes to a much different era than our own. There are some cozy booths to sit down in, but most of the dining is between the booths and the bar, with tables galore. They also have a brick oven off to the side for the in-house pizzas. Nice touch.

The bar itself is loooooooong, with two rows of tap handles at opposite ends of the bar. They have the usual all audiences stuff like Stella Artois and Sam Adams, but also a few craft offerings. Those include two in-house brews, the "Owl Pale" and the Ole something or other I've since forgotten. Also: Troegs Troegenator seems to be a regular, and I saw a Dominion Oak Barrel Stout, a Shiner Hef and a Leinenkugel Summer Wheat available. Nothing too fancy, but enough to intrigue.

The dining menu looked solid as well, including Bang Bang Shrimp which I need to try at some point. Happy Hour is impressive as myself and my guest were able to turn jumbo portions of nachos and Old Bay wings plus four pints for less than $18. The Old Bay wings were new to me, but our bartender sold us on having to try them to be a true Baltimorean. They were delicious, with more of a salty flavor than an old bay flavor, but the key was the wings being fried. Not enough places do that right, there was no slimy skin or slightly undercooked chicken meat to be found, just moist, crispy skin and meat.

The Owl Bar is listed at Beer Advocate, so they're seen as a place to enjoy craft beers, but they're far from the first place I'd go. They did have some stuff I don't see often which is part of the appeal, but they also make sure to cater to all audiences which isn't the worst business decision ever. The rest of the experience is quite nice and worthy of more visits, partaking in the history of the place and drinking downtown somewhere other than Fell's Point or Canton.

(Image: imogene.org)